Dinner - The Polyphonic Food Blog

[bettyjoan]

Simple spaghetti with olive oil, oven-roasted tomatoes, garlic, basil, and parmesan

Green salad with TJ's cilantro salad dressing (my newest obsession - so good)

[lperry]

Last night was roasted eggplant with feta and mint, tossed with penne, lemon juice, and olive oil.

Tonight, tomato paella. I miss the Minimalist.

Edited to say that I did a quick search, and found him at the Cooking Channel. We shut off the cable six months ago, but the website looks helpful.

[Anna Blume]

Last Friday I made a huge Kurdish casserole of eggplant, frying peppers, tomatoes, sumac and lamb and w variations in sides, have not grown tired of it over the week. Wolfert's Eastern Mediterranean Cooking may be one of the fussiest cookbooks around but everything is worth the time spent gathering ingredients and prepping.

FYI A medium-coarse bulghur I bought at Rodman's turned out to be the best I've found for making a non-gummy bulghur pilaf with caramelized onions, kale and allspice.

Other recent, recipe-dependent dinners chosen to unburden the produce drawer of what's impossible to resist: Sweet corn soup w lime, cilantro and a mound of mashed avocado whipped into Greek-style yogurt. Tomato soup w roasted peppers, saffron and pimenton; skillet cornbread made w fresh corn and polenta soaked all day in buttermilk.

[zoramargolis]

last night:

lettuce salad with tomato and avocado, thousand island dressing

albondigas en casuela con elote en salsa ranchera (made with eco-friendly ground beef)

La Costeña frijoles refritos

sliced peach and nectarine

Pacifico and Fat Tire

[LauraB]

Last night:

Grilled Peach Salad: peaches in a marinade of chopped jalapenos, basil, ginger, lime juice, salt, olive oil, grilled; tossed with arugula, watercress and basil leaves, dressed with EVOO and champagne vinegar

Smoky tortilla soup: homemade tortilla strips, pasilla chiles, roasted plum tomatoes, onions and garlic, chipotle chiles, cumin, oregano, cloves, cilantro, chicken broth, smoked paprika, lime juice, shredded poached chicken, garnished with Cotija cheese, Monterey Jack, avocadoes and cilantro

[monavano]

Turkey burger with Blue Ridge smoked mozzarella and Garner's tomatoes. A bit of Duke's mayo for good measure all on a Panorama olive oil bun.

[zoramargolis]

Last night:

Grilled Peach Salad: peaches in a marinade of chopped jalapenos, basil, ginger, lime juice, salt, olive oil, grilled; tossed with arugula, watercress and basil leaves, dressed with EVOO and champagne vinegar

Smoky tortilla soup: homemade tortilla strips, pasilla chiles, roasted plum tomatoes, onions and garlic, chipotle chiles, cumin, oregano, cloves, cilantro, chicken broth, smoked paprika, lime juice, shredded poached chicken, garnished with Cotija cheese, Monterey Jack, avocadoes and cilantro

The tortilla soup sounds really good with smokiness from the chipotles and pimenton. I'm thinking that could also be really good made with smoked chicken and/or a broth made from a smoked chicken carcass.

[LauraB]

The tortilla soup sounds really good with smokiness from the chipotles and pimenton. I'm thinking that could also be really good made with smoked chicken and/or a broth made from a smoked chicken carcass.

It was really delicious. With your suggestions I can only imagine it would be divine. Alas, don't own a smoker. I did roast the chicken pieces before I made the broth (a la Molly Stevens), so the broth had a greater depth of flavor than it otherwise would have.

[bettyjoan]

Costco rotisserie chicken

Sauteed okra over white grits with tomato/onion/chili oil saute (a "recipe" I got from Chef Kevin Gillespie at a farmers market demo years ago)

[zoramargolis]

It was really delicious. With your suggestions I can only imagine it would be divine. Alas, don't own a smoker. I did roast the chicken pieces before I made the broth (a la Molly Stevens), so the broth had a greater depth of flavor than it otherwise would have.

If you have a covered bbq grill, you can smoke chicken. For charcoal, soak some wood chips, build an indirect fire put the wet wood chips directly on the charcoal and put the chicken on the rack on the side away from the coals, with the lid vent opening over the chicken. For a covered gas grill, put soaked wood chips in an aluminum foil packet and punch holes in the packet. Put the foil packet on one of the lit burners and set the chicken over an unlit burner. You can also improvise a stove-top smoker, if you have a range hood with a decent exhaust fan.

[bettyjoan]

Pan-seared tilapia

Brown rice

Green salad with goat cheese and cilantro dressing

[porcupine]

Last night: cappellini with chopped tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, and oilve oil; some sauteed fennel, onions, black olives on the side.

Tonight, dinner for a club meeting: cold creamy corn soup, crab cakes, zucchini pappardelle, chopped tomato and mozzarella salad; peach semifreddo for dessert. A celebration of August in DC.

Made a test batch of the crab cakes Monday with a method from Food 52: use reduced heavy cream and an egg as binder for the crabmeat; coat in breadcrumbs. I used panko and fried them in ghee rather than butter/oil as the recipe directed. These were some great crabcakes but they did fall apart when I tried to flip them, so tonight I'll fry them in a cast iron skillet, then drizzle the tops with ghee and place then pan in the broiler to finish them.

[Xochitl10]

Azami made chiles rellenos using some of last year's New Mexico green chiles stuffed with Jack cheese. Served with steamed rice, pinto beans, and homemade tortillas.

[zoramargolis]

tostadas with eco-friendly chorizo, La Costeña refried beans, lettuce, golden beets, roasted tomatillo vinaigrette, pico de gallo, big boy tomato, cheddar cheese

bartlett pear and homemade chocolate chip cookies

[Tweaked]

Mushroom paella (Casas)

Roasted red peppers with tomato and cumin (Wolfert)

Heirloom tomatoes, arugula, and avocado (New Morning Farms and Giant)

Roasted peach and vanilla gellato (New Morning Farms and Talenti)

[Anna Blume]

Very late lunch or early dinner was a variation on this dish , the use of shrimp instead of prawns being the major change. After consultation with an expert, I decided the faces of some of the critters looked a bit too Francis Bacon, so I decapitated them before depriving them of limbs and intestinal tracts. Otherwise, shells and tails stayed intact.

The bitter end note of a Spanish olive oil tempered the sweetness of yellow plum tomatoes (Golden Rave, Next Step Produce) used to make a delicious tomato confit. There is still more than a cup left and I am wondering what to do with it. Any suggestions involving vegetables or grains welcome.

[thistle]

Pan seared ribeye, salad, green beans w/garlic & tomatoes-I haven't had steak in 5 years, maybe I can stick w/ this plan....it was great, sauce was pan drippings w/ a bit of butter, Worcestershire, sherry vinegar....

[LauraB]

A farmers market dinner:

Chilled sungold soup

Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches

The soup is out of this world good -- from Deborah Madison's Local Flavors cookbook. All of the ingredients for the sandwiches were purchased at the farmers market yesterday (with the exception of the Hellmans mayo). This was a special treat as we do not permit ourselves bacon or mayo very often, or, for that matter, bread. But, at least once every summer we must have a BLT! And, since we have leftovers of all of the ingredients, we may just need to repeat this tomorrow!

[thistle]

I LOVE Sungold tomatoes, & will try to have them every summer for the rest of my life, as long as I can find seedlings...

[JuneBacon]

A farmers market dinner:

Chilled sungold soup

Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches

The soup is out of this world good -- from Deborah Madison's Local Flavors cookbook. All of the ingredients for the sandwiches were purchased at the farmers market yesterday (with the exception of the Hellmans mayo). This was a special treat as we do not permit ourselves bacon or mayo very often, or, for that matter, bread. But, at least once every summer we must have a BLT! And, since we have leftovers of all of the ingredients, we may just need to repeat this tomorrow!

Should have bought eggs too and made your own mayo

[Pat]

Tonight was deviled eggs, lamb tacos, and rice pilaf

The tacos were "serve yourself" style: large flour tortillas, ground lamb sauteed with onions, garlic, and Cava harissa; toppings = Greek yogurt, shredded romaine, feta, sliced scallions, chopped tomatoes, and nicoise olives

[lperry]

Salad of romaine with Pink Lady apple and manchego, dressed with a tarragon vinaigrette. Props to Trader Joe's, of all places, for having a decent French tarragon plant earlier in the season.

[Anna Blume]

The soup is out of this world good -- from Deborah Madison's Local Flavors cookbook.

Try the golden pepper and yellow tomato soup some time, too. I just buy tomato seconds from one of the organic farmers and make a red soup, roasting yellow & orange bell peppers. I find 3-4 lbs. of tomatoes best (either prepared as stated in recipe or halved & roasted, too, w slivers of garlic and thyme branches stuck in the sections), with about 3 c stock/water vs. a quart. The pimenton and saffron are great touches and the soup is ten times better the next day w warm buttermilk cornbread.

[LauraB]

I LOVE Sungold tomatoes, & will try to have them every summer for the rest of my life, as long as I can find seedlings...

I love them too! I buy at least one and usually 2 pints every week at the farmers market and eat them like candy. Alas, we do not have space for a garden currently, but if we did, I think I'd plant nothing but sungolds!

[LauraB]

Try the golden pepper and yellow tomato soup some time, too. I just buy tomato seconds from one of the organic farmers and make a red soup, roasting yellow & orange bell peppers. I find 3-4 lbs. of tomatoes best (either prepared as stated in recipe or halved & roasted, too, w slivers of garlic and thyme branches stuck in the sections), with about 3 c stock/water vs. a quart. The pimenton and saffron are great touches and the soup is ten times better the next day w warm buttermilk cornbread.

Thanks for this tip, Anna. I've put this soup on my To Do list for the week. Tonight I made Yellow Tomato Gazpacho from Sunday Suppers at Lucques. Just have to soak up all the tomato goodness one can in this short time that they're ripe and local.

[LauraB]

Yellow tomato gazpacho

Pan-seared scallops drizzled with a lime/piment d'Espelette dressing, served over a melange of corn, sungolds, basil coulis, and grilled nectarines

Summer on a plate!

[Pat]

Lemon yogurt and blueberries

Orange sections

Blueberry pancakes with bacon - bourbon maple syrup

Bacon

[Anna Blume]

Lost the looks of the gorgeous, leftover yellow plum tomato confit in the process, but used it as if it were a can of condensed soup and I were a hippy housewife who macramés plant hangers: Stew of skinless chicken thighs, colored bell peppers, onion and fresh lima beans with pancetta and lemon thyme over brown rice. The tiny lima beans took forever to soften. Because of the tomato?

[zoramargolis]

when I was a "hippy housewife" I never used condensed soup--we were all about "living off the land" and growing and canning our own tomatoes. and it was my "hippy husband" who did the macramé-ing. not merely plant hangers, but also a dog leash that held up well for 20 years. knots, it turns out, are actually a guy thing.

Last night:

chilled smoked corn, green chile and buttermilk soup with cilantro. the color was a bit dingy from the smoke, but it tasted really good.

chiles poblanos rellenos (stuffed with jack cheese, rolled in egg wash and blue corn masa harina before frying)

salsa ranchera (cooked/pureed tomato-chile-tomatillo sauce)

La Costeña refried beans

sharlyn melon

Fat Tire

[Pat]

Last night was kimchi fried rice with fried eggs and chopped scallions.

The kimchi came from the end produce stall at Eastern Market. I've seen plenty of recipes for making kimchi fried rice and thought it was intriguing. A few days ago, Ina Garten had someone as a guest on her show making it and it seemed so straightforward and potentially wonderful that I decided to utilize my leftover rice pilaf towards this end. I'll be doing this again.

[LauraB]

Last night: a dish from Jerry Traunfeld's Herbal Kitchen

Pacific halibut in a carrot-cilantro broth: white wine, lime juice, shallots, ginger, butter, carrot juice, cilantro

Served on a bed of baby spinach sauteed with a little butter

Divine!

[LauraB]

Tonight:

Grilled boneless chicken breasts in a chile lime marinade

Black bean, corn and roasted red pepper salad with chile lime cilantro dressing

Salad of mixed greens and watercress with sungolds and avocado with an EVOO/lime dressing

[Pat]

We managed to grill outside in advance of approaching storms. Usually when we grill, we make extra to have leftovers. Tonight was

pork tenderloin that had rested overnight in a shallot-garlic-bourbon marinade; chicken breast halves with a small amount of Bullseye bbq sauce brushed over at the last minute; tofu with a hot chipotle barbecue sauce brushed over when it came off the grill; halloumi cheese; and, zucchini marinated in lemon juice and zest, olive oil, salt and pepper.

The chicken and pork were both fantastic but the real winner was a red currant compote I made for the halloumi cheese. It was good on the cheese but even better on the pork. I had bought currants impulsively at Whole Foods and decided I'd make a compote with them. I worked from a very simple BBC recipe, and the results were great. I'm definitely hanging onto the recipe, not that I come across fresh currants very often.

I also made a bourbon - caramelized onion dip that was not oniony enough. We had some of that with carrot and celery sticks before the meal. Now I've got to figure out what to do to pump up the flavor of it so the rest is salvageable.

[zoramargolis]

last night:

oak-smoked spare ribs with my bbq sauce. (ribs were herb-brined for 24 hours, spice-rubbed, smoked over charcoal for 2 hours, then wrapped in foil and left in the bbq for two more hours.) great flavor, nice smoke ring and perfect pull-off-the-bone texture.

home made cole slaw

bbq beans

hell or high watermelon

[lperry]

I also made a bourbon - caramelized onion dip that was not oniony enough. We had some of that with carrot and celery sticks before the meal. Now I've got to figure out what to do to pump up the flavor of it so the rest is salvageable.

I've had luck with both acid and spice. I would try lime, lemon, or vinegar first, just a little, and if that doesn't do it, try some pepper flakes or hot sauce (which also has a bit of vinegar, usually.) You can do a little taste test so you don't inadvertently ruin it all. Not that this has ever happened to me.

[Pat]

I've had luck with both acid and spice. I would try lime, lemon, or vinegar first, just a little, and if that doesn't do it, try some pepper flakes or hot sauce (which also has a bit of vinegar, usually.) You can do a little taste test so you don't inadvertently ruin it all. Not that this has ever happened to me.

This called for a small amount of lemon juice, and I even used more than it called for. I had thought I would try caramelizing one more onion and adding that to the remainder. I didn't try heat, though. Maybe I can mix in a small amount of leftover chipotle bbq sauce. Thanks for the advice.

As much as I love the Lipton dehydrated stuff (one of my guiltiest pleasures), I really don't like ingesting that much sodium. Whenever I try onion dip from scratch, it comes up short somehow or other.

[lperry]

As much as I love the Lipton dehydrated stuff (one of my guiltiest pleasures), I really don't like ingesting that much sodium. Whenever I try onion dip from scratch, it comes up short somehow or other.

I have to have the Lipton once a year just for nostalgia's sake. That and some Chex Mix.

[thistle]

Smoked turkey breast & beef brisket, & coleslaw (cabbage, grn onion, carrot, mayo, rice vinegar,s&p, pickapeppa sauce, & lots of basil-purple & Thai)-lunch was chicken soup w/ broth from my Su Pollo bones, leftover sautéed green beans & mushrooms, & chicken cooked w/ tamari & chili-garlic sauce...puppies also got some smoked turkey...

[thistle]

& if you swab the smoked turkey through the brisket juices, it's greatly improved...think I may have over smoked it, but it will be fine in soup & chili...

[lperry]

A garden dinner. Spaghetti with roasted heirloom tomatoes, goat's cheese, fresh basil, and a bit of balsamic.

Steamed Romano pole beans (first harvest!) with coarse salt.

Charentais melon.

[zoramargolis]

caprese crostini

smoked cornish game hen (smoked last night with the ribs) reheated with my bbq sauce

German potato salad with Spring Valley new potatoes and Benton's bacon

cole slaw

Toigo peach

Fat Tire

[Xochitl10]

I wanted cold Japanese food for dinner tonight and thought we had soba, but we didn't. So, I made somen instead. Somen are thin wheat noodles about the same shape and size as soba, and are generally only eaten in the summer. I used my favorite tuna salad somen recipe from the back of the bottle of a brand of tsuyu (dipping sauce) that I used to buy in Japan. Clockwise from the bottom, we have the tuna salad somen, iburigakko (the smoked pickled daikon radish from Akita Prefecture that I can't shut up about), soy sauce, chilled tofu, tsuyu, somen cooking water to cut the tsuyu for dipping or drinking afterward, and minced shiitake, grated ginger, and green onions to garnish the tofu.

[Anna Blume]

when I was a "hippy housewife" I never used condensed soup--we were all about "living off the land" and growing and canning our own tomatoes. and it was my "hippy husband" who did the macramé-ing. not merely plant hangers, but also a dog leash that held up well for 20 years. knots, it turns out, are actually a guy thing.

Ahhhh...but then there were the hippy housewives found in townhouse-style apartment complexes in the suburbs of New Haven, living off the promise of their husband's graduate degree or residency. They might have baked their own bread, but they picked up copies of Woman's Day at the checkout of Pegnataro's, too. When mushrooms came in cans, and the best green beans were frozen, Campbell's made a good sauce and orange cotton twine, matching beads and a macramé handbook, a fine present for the babysitter. (< Yeah, I had one of those buttons, too.)

*************

Dinner tonight: veal scallops w capers and lemon, maybe. Salad with beautiful arugula from Mt. View and a purple Cherokee from New Morning, definitely.

[Pat]

Salad (green leaf lettuce, cucumber, radish, tomato, feta, grilled halloumi cheese, pimento-stuffed green olives); balsamic vinaigrette

Leftover pork tenderloin and red currant compote

Mini penne mixed with leftover onion dip and chopped grilled zucchini

The onion dip, when mixed in with hot pasta and hot zucchini made a sort of sauce that was passable.

[LauraB]

Continuing to cook from the farmers markets

Last night:

Salade nicoise: Boston lettuce, fingerling potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, shallots, hard-boiled eggs, fresh tarragon, nicoise olives, capers, and tuna medallions pan-seared very briefly; tarragon vinaigrette. This salad traditionally uses canned tuna, but since we had the medallions in the freezer, it seemed a better option and they added a lot to the salad.

Tonight:

Summer risotto: green beans, yellow wax beans, red pepper, tomatoes, onions, basil, garlic, saffron, arborio rice, tomato-mushroom stock, dry sherry, grated parmigiano-reggiano. The tomato-mushroom stock added a nice earthiness to the dish.

[Pat]

Green chile cheeseburgers on potato buns

Corn on the cob

Baked potatoes

Harris Teeter had Hatch chiles in last week, so I bought a couple dozen and roasted them. The quality could have been a little better. It seemed like they had been sitting and aging for a while. In any case, I roasted them right away and packaged some for the fridge and others for the freezer later on. They were quite good on the sirloin burgers I made last night.

[Anna Blume]

The annual eggplant parmigiana. Snacked on small orange peppers and arugula while assembling. Concord grapes.

Baked the eggplant slices naked instead of (a) frying; ( b ) coating them w egg, flour and/or bread crumbs. Having never done any of the ( b )'s, I wonder how the practice evolved; (a)'s traditional, but I went w Mario Batali's advice long ago. Less work, especially in clean-up, less oil and you can incorporate the flavor of olive oil instead of using a neutral frying oil (Hazan).

[Pat]

The annual eggplant parmigiana. Snacked on small orange peppers and arugula while assembling. Concord grapes.

Baked the eggplant slices naked instead of (a) frying; ( b ) coating them w egg, flour and/or bread crumbs. Having never done any of the ( b )'s, I wonder how the practice evolved; (a)'s traditional, but I went w Mario Batali's advice long ago. Less work, especially in clean-up, less oil and you can incorporate the flavor of olive oil instead of using a neutral frying oil (Hazan).

Years ago--and I don't know why I did this except to save calories--I used to parboil eggplant slices and then assemble the casserole. That way the eggplant wasn't going in completely uncooked, but nothing was being added to the casserole except eggplant, tomato sauce, cheese and herbs/spices. I haven't made it this way in years, but I recall it was pretty good. I had neighbors I would make it for who really liked it too.

[Fishinnards]

This weekend I grilled some pork (หมูย่าง) between rain storms and had it along with sticky rice, various dipping sauces (jeaw, น้ำจิ้มแจ่ว), and green papaya salad (ส้มตำ). Additionally, I made jungle curry (แกงป่า) without meat for a non-mammal eating guest. The leftovers constituted our meal for the next evening, except we had jasmine rice (from my new rice cooker!) and garlic pork (หมูทอดกระเทียมพริกไทย).

My garden has been producing copious amounts of holy basil (and other basil) over the last month and now is making lots of eggplants.

Monday and Tuesday's dinner was grilled eggplant in tomato sauce with pickling spices (fennel and kalonji), sweet and sour okra, mung bean dumplings in tomato and fenugreek sauce, cucumber, tomato and shallot with toasted cumin and lime and spiced basmanti rice.

I spent the rest of the weekend canning 30 lbs. of tomatoes into sauce and jam as well as making jalapeno jelly and pesto for the freezer.

[zoramargolis]

Ahhhh...but then there were the hippy housewives found in townhouse-style apartment complexes in the suburbs of New Haven, living off the promise of their husband's graduate degree or residency. They might have baked their own bread, but they picked up copies of Woman's Day at the checkout of Pegnataro's, too. When mushrooms came in cans, and the best green beans were frozen, Campbell's made a good sauce and orange cotton twine, matching beads and a macramé handbook, a fine present for the babysitter. (< Yeah, I had one of those buttons, too.)

Those New Haven housewives you recall from your past may have had expansive hips, but they were hardly hippies. Think communes and collectives, voluntary poverty, living in old school busses, VW campers, and tipis. Hallucinogenics. Macrobiotics. Those were the days. I can't stand the taste of brown rice--it brings it all flooding back.